[23] The Pueblo Indians still cling to many features of aboriginal worship. The sun-father and moon-mother are revered--not the orbs themselves, but the spiritual beings residing therein. Consult on this subject, Bandelier, _op. cit._, iii, pp. 276-316.--ED. [24] The office of the cacique is in essence religious; but as religion is interwoven with the entire life of the Pueblos, he is in a sense a civil official as well. He is chosen because of fitness, frequently on the nomination of his predecessor, and his education in the mysteries and secrets of his people is exacting. The office is for life, unless terminated by improper behavior, when the cacique may be deposed. The candidate sometimes declines the office because of the severity of the duties, which involve much fasting and abnegation. The _estufa_ is not always subterranean. It originated before the introduction of Christian family life, in a common home for the male members of the pueblo. It has become the council house of the tribe. Some pueblos contain more than one; unless rites are in progress, it is a bare, rude room usually unornamented. For details, consult John G. Bourke, _Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_ (New York, 1884).--ED. [25] Matrimonial relations among these people have been much modified by the introduction of Christianity, and the requirements of the friars, so that the monogamous family is now the rule among the sedentary Indians; although there are still in force certain clan restrictions in the choice of the mate.--ED. [26] Although the Pueblos have, since the subjugation of the Apache, engaged in no wars, a war-captain is each year selected by the cacique, who has, as Gregg relates, certain protective and religious functions.--ED. [27] Primary schools were established for several pueblos, about 1872, but met with opposition from priests, who did not desire Indian children to learn English. There are in the territory at present (1903), about eighteen day-schools, and two industrial boarding schools.--ED. [28] For a brief sketch of the history of Taos, see our volume xviii, p. 73, note 44. The Taos communal architecture is of the primitive type; after the Spanish conquest, the separate houses of the other pueblos were gradually adopted.--ED. [29] Picuries is one of the northern group. Like Taos, it is of Tiguan stock, and participated in the history of the region, being visited by one of Coronado's party in 1540. It yielded to Oñate in 1598, took part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696, and in the uprising against the Americans in 1848. The pueblo was formerly much larger than at present, its population now consisting of only about a hundred poor and rather unprogressive Indians. It is in Taos County about seventy miles north of Santa Fé.--ED.